Divine by Choice

Oklahoma high school English teacher Shannon is finally settling in on Partholon as the Goddess Epona's Chosen and wife to centaur ClanFintan. The war is over, but changes are still on the horizon.

Shannon, now called Rhea, finds herself pregnant and feeling a growing sense of evil. When a trip to a local shrine finds her jerked back to the Earth she left behind, Shannon has to battle old evil in a new setting if she is ever going to get back to her new life.

Even though it has been many, many years since I read the first book in this series, I was able to quickly adjust to the world and the mythology which is a combination of Scottish and Greek myths. This was an entertaining fantasy.

I really enjoyed the first book in the series, Divine By Mistake. So I was excited to start Divine by Choice. My hopes for it were that it had the same writing style that captured me in to first the story and that the main character would be just as enjoyable. I got all that, plus an unbelievably exciting plot! This book wasn't as long as the first one, but it held just as much action as the first.

In the beginning, Shannon is enjoying her new life with her centaur husband and ready to start a family. Then she is pulled back into her old life in Oklahoma. I enjoyed seeing more of Shannon's life before Partholon. I love the concept Cast has created of mirror twins. Shannon has only the help of her husband ClanFintan's mirror, a man named show more Clint. But he isn't just an ordinary man, he is a shaman in our world. At first, I hated Clint. Only because I loved Clanfintan so much in the first book. How dare this new guy come along! But once I got over that, I could see Shannon's dilemma. It would be a hard and confusing thing for any girl to be around your husband's mirror image, especially if you are afraid you may never get to see your husband again. I think the die hard romance fans will become upset at Shannon in some points, but for me Clint added a very exciting element into the story.

I was glad to have all my questions answered about Rhinannon. It was nice to know how Shannon and Rhinannon became such different people. I still think that Rhinannon is a horrible person that does some evil things, but hearing about her past, I couldn't help but sympathize with her. Parts of her past were very intense to read about, to the point that I was peaking through my fingers while reading it. This book is definitely for adult readers.

The same monster Shannon has to fight in the story is back, except it is now in our world. Shannon has to stop it before it harms her family. I felt so bad for Shannon, she had to go through so much emotionally in this book. Yes, I really sympathized with her, because that is how emotionally invested I have become in this character. When Shannon was going through something, it felt like I was going through it. I love how Cast can make the characters feel that real to you. Even though Shannon goes through hard times, she still had the same great sense of humor and snarky side that I loved in the first book.

The ending had me crying and was tearing me up a little inside. But the last few pages made me hopeful Shannon might be able to gain back and keep her happily ever after. I am excited to jump in to the next book and see the conclusion in Shannon's story. Divine by Choice was a fantastic sequel. I usually don't enjoy a sequel more than the first book, but I did here. I have high hopes for Divine by Blood! show less

Shannon Parker is officially one of my new all-time favorite characters. P.C. Cast has created a beautiful world, a funny and quirky set of characters, and an amazing story only made better by the second installment in her Goddess of Partholon series, DIVINE BY CHOICE. For me, Shannon is what really made this story sparkle.

Tossed into a mythological world where centaurs exist and evil has the potential to roam the lands, Shannon Parker has enough trouble trying to manage without toilet paper, let alone attempting to be the Goddess Incarnate of Epona she is supposed to be in this new world. In DIVINE BY CHOICE we get to follow the cute woman as she finds herself unexpectedly thrown one surprise after another. It's difficult to talk about show more the storyline in this installment without giving away too much of the story; just know that Shannon is going to be tested like never before - spiritually, physically, and romantically.

Why is Shannon such a fantastic character? Honestly, I hope to someday ask that of Ms. Cast. However she developed Shannon; whatever love she put into her; whatever crazy dreams inspired the author to create Shannon Parker, ex-teacher and new Goddess Incarnate, has to be magic. I've ready many books where I felt connected to the lead character, but rarely do I feel like I miss that character after the story is done. With DIVINE BY MISTAKE I honestly feel like a good friend has departed and I have to sit and anxiously wait for her return. Perhaps it's the humor Shannon is imbued with and the funny way she views life. She is a sparkling character with a strong personality that makes her very relatable. She's the girl you want to be; not the processed Barbie doll of pristine beauty, but the real-life woman of humor and optimism.

Seriously, I just love reading about her.

Now that I've got that out of my system, how about we visit some other great aspects of the book? If Ms. Cast's lead character wasn't so dang cute, the story would most likely still be fantastic. There is a nice support system of strong characters. In DIVINE BY MISTAKE we see the introduction of Clint and let me just tell you now, be prepared for some serious heart pounding! Whether it's from anticipation, anger, anguish, joy, or fear, Clint throws us through some serious emotions. I rarely get truly vested in a story, instead, enjoying the surface emotions during the book and then allowing them to release once it's over. Otherwise, I think I'd mope around for days each time I finished a book. With this one however, there is no way not to get invested. Clin, and the part he plays in the story, digs down deep into the heart and sits there, waiting until you're least expecting it to pop up and get those emotions rolling.

Nothing says "I just finished a good book" like getting caught staring at the wall, daydreaming while your popcorn burns in the microwave. I was so looking forward to that popcorn too.

Ms. Cast's scenery and the way she describes her world is truly what makes the story come to life. This was true in Divine by Mistake but is even more evident in DIVINE BY CHOICE. It's very easy to see and feel the world around you which only aids the author in pulling us down into the story. At one point while reading a particularly cold scene, I was amazed to walk outside and find it rather warm. I had expecting it to be frigid out. When an author can influence not only your emotions, but what you expect in the world, that's the sign that he or she has got you hooked.

Like the first book, there were a few times that the pace seemed to pick up and leave me a little behind. I wouldn't say that it was too distracting and overall didn't effect the story that much.

Fair warning time: There are adult scenes and themes within the pages of DIVINE BY CHOICE.

It was ridiculously easy to get engrossed in DIVINE BY MISTAKE and I am quite anxious to start Divine by Blood next. This is the third book in the series and by the excerpt of it found at the end of book two, it promises to be even better than the first ones. If you haven't given this series a try, I recommend it. The stories are magical, funny, full of action, and filled with color. They are the perfect escape on a rainy day anytime you just want to go somewhere filled fantasy for a bit. show less

If I was stuck on a deserted island and could only bring books from one author, that author would be PC Cast. This addition to the Divine series made me so happy and then so sad :-( I wanted to bawl at the end ... and just ... love :-)

Adrianne

Om eens een keer wat anders te lezen is dit een heerlijk genre.
Het is gewoon één en al fantasie maar het verhaal zit erg goed in elkaar,het is net of je er bij bent.
Ook dit deel vond ik weer geweldig en ik kijk uit naar het volgende deel,Godin van nature.

Warning: Contains spoilers for the previous book in the series, Divine by Mistake
Shannon Parker has been magically traded with her "mirror image" in the mystical land of Partholon, Rhiannon, Goddess Incarnate of Epona. She has cemented her position as the true chosen by defeating the evil Formorians and marrying the centuar High Shaman ClanFintan. She is happy with her life and joyfully expecting a daughter.
Unfortunately, she is unceremoniously pulled back to her original world by ClanFintan's mirror image, Clint Freeman who has been abused by the evil Rhiannon and thinks he's rescuing Shannon from a hell dimension. Rhiannon is creating all kinds of trouble in our world, trying to amass power and calling dangerous entities from the Dark show more Side. Shannon has to defeat Rhiannon and find a way to get back to Parthalon.
Shannon's story is compelling and fast-paced. The magical elements are logical and fascinating. Shannon is a vibrantly flawed character and as such very genuine and relatable. Shannon's dad and Clint are good characters as well. I was looking forward to finding out what kind of havoc Rhiannon was wreaking in our world and glad Shannon got to visit her dad again.
Recommended for fans of fantasy, paranormal romance, and YA. show less

This sequel to ’Divine by Mistake’ continues the adventures of Shannon Parker, originally sucked from her schoolteacher life in Oklahoma into an alternate fantasy reality in which she is betrothed to a real-life centaur and revered as a goddess incarnate. Just as she is settling into and growing to love her new home and hunky husband, Shannon is uprooted once again and deposited into her old world to fix the trouble caused by her "double," a not-so-nice mirror image of herself who caused all this world-switching in the first place. Enlisting Shannon’s help is her husband’s double, who is just as handsome as he is.

While the story is fun, the author’s ultra-casual writing style can be extremely irritating, and Shannon's inner show more dialogue belies the fact that she's thirty-five years old. show less